


Wounds That Won't Heal

by Cait_frost_11



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/M, Gen, Not A Fix-It, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, catatonic Wanda maximoff, maybe a slight fix it, romanogers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2018-09-23 23:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 11,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9687956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cait_frost_11/pseuds/Cait_frost_11
Summary: The teams of the split team have split. The heroes are on their own, but some of them truly can't be, and some don't have to be.But some wounds are to deep to heal, and each of these fighters has such a wound somewhere within their being.





	1. Chapter 1: Coordinates

It had been one week. One week since it all came crashing down at the airport in Berlin. One week since the fragile bond between the leading Avengers had shattered. One week. 

As Steve left the Wakandan science laboratories, broken-hearted from losing his oldest friend yet again, he thought of what he would do next. Bucky had gone back into cryosleep under the protection of T'Challa, as a favor in apology for his rash actions over the Accords. And now Steve was alone and on the run. 

His friends were gone. He had seen it on the news that Sam, Clint, Wanda, and Scott had been captured and were wing held under maximum security. He just didn't know where. He also knew from the newscast that after her stunt to help him and Bucky Natasha had made the top of the UN's most wanted fugitive list. He knew he was on his own until he could find and rescue his captured friends. That's all he was focused on. After that, who knows where they would go. 

His phone suddenly started ringing in his pocket, and he skeptically answered. 

"Hello?"

"Oh gosh, Steve!"

"Nat?"

"I hoped you hadn't gotten rid of your phone yet, I didn't know how else I would be able to contact you."

"Nat, what's up?"

"Clint, Wanda, Sam, and your mini-slash-giant recruit guyー"

"Scott."

"Yeah, him. They are being held in The Raft. It's an ultra-maximum security prison in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The coordinates are 25.742 N, and -42.797 W. That's all I can give you."

"Thank you so much, Nat. For everything."

"Eh, no big deal. I'm a fugitive, I'm on the run. Not a first for either. Besides, I owed you one from saving my life back when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell."

"I guess we're even then. But I'll always be around if you need saving again."

"You wish, Rogers. But really, same to you."

"I hope we can talk again soon. Face to face."

"Yeah. I'm going to try to get Tony to attempt a repeal on the Accords, I just hope he still has that power after the Siberia fiasco." 

"That would be great. I just hope there won't be any more fighting."

"Agreed. Now you go get the others out of The Raft and get them and yourself off the grid. You'll have to toss your phone after this in case anyone is tracking your signal."

"Okay. How will I get through to you?" 

"You won't. I'm going off the grid, or at least just going into hiding for awhile. I don't know where I'll end up, but if and when I can I'll contact you. Get the others safe. Stay hidden. We'll get through this."

"I hope so. Thank you again. Stay safe, Nat."

"You too. Bye, Steve." 

"Bye, Nat."

He reluctantly hung up the call, not wanting to cut off contact from Natasha, but he knew he had to eventually. He immediately smashed his phone like she told him to and threw it in a dumpster just as he came to the advanced quinjet that T'Challa had waiting for his departure. The king himself was standing by the entrance to see Steve off. They shook hands and the fugitive once again thanked the king for all he had done. 

Steve boarded the aircraft and as he took off from the ground he put in a set of coordinates. But they weren't the ones Natasha had given him. No, he had somewhere to stop first.


	2. Inside Information

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As before, leave comments. I would love to know your thoughts and opinions.

Sharon sat down at her desk in the government office and sighed as she started going over the reports regarding the capture of the Sokovian Accords violators. She knew that Steve and Bucky had escaped, but Clint, Sam, Wanda, and Scott were all being held in a maximum security prison. If only there was something I could do to help them, she thought to herself.  
"Sharon," a familiar voice whispered from a dark corner behind her. She spun her chair around to face the source of the voice.  
"Steve, what are you doing here?" She whispered back and looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone else around. "You could get caught!"  
"I need a favor."  
"Anything I can do."  
"Do you have access to a private jet?" Steve asked.  
That's a strange question, I thought he would have his own access with the Avengers, she thought and then she remembered that there was no more Avengers. "Ummm, yeah. I should be able to get one for awhile. What do you need?"  
"Natasha got in contact with me and told me where Clint, Sam, Wanda, and Scott are being held. I would've called ahead, but I had to smash my phone in case anyone was tracing the signal. I need someone to pilot a jet so I can get to the prison, break them out, and get them away. You think you could help me?" He explained.  
"Well it seems that I own you one, so of course. Anything I could ever do."  
"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it," he quietly exclaimed his gratitude.  
"I can call off for the weekend next week, I hope that's not too late."  
"If that's the soonest you can get, that's good enough. As long as I can get them all out alive," Steve agreed.  
"I'm sure that can be arranged." Sharon smiled, despite the worried expression her friend still had. "Don't worry. They are going to be okay. They have been through too much now to give up like this." Steve looked up at her with something like hope glimmering in his eyes. "They are too strong."  
The hope that was missing from his plan suddenly began to creep in, and Steve's mind unconsciously began a countdown until the next weekend when his guilt of being the cause of his friends' condemnation would be vanquished. When he would right the wrongs he did them.  
A sound outside the closed office door startled them both, and Sharon frantically whispered, "You have to get out of here! How did you get in?"  
"Through the vents of course," he smiled, and he backed away into the corner where he squeezed into the large air vent at the base of the wall, a trick he learned from the times Clint would crawl through the vents at the Avengers' Tower in order to spy on the team and play pranks.  
She stifled a laugh as her supervisor walked through the door and gave her an assignment on protecting the public from the "dangerous vigilantes and enhanced beings of the world."  
As he turned to leave her room, she called out to stop him. "Excuse me, could I take next weekend off? A very dear friend of mine is getting married, and I would really like to be at the wedding," she lied.  
"Yeah, I guess," he permitted her. "You better hope none of those awful ex-avengers shows up and ruins it."  
If only you knew how true that is going to be. Sharon thought as her supervisor grumpily shuffled out of the office.  
She owed Steve her help, and now that Natasha is now on the outside of the Accords circle, she knew she was going to have to be the provider of Steve's inside information.  
If only the double agent act came as easily to me as it does to Natasha, Sharon thought, knowing the difficult road her friends would have ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, the next chapter will be longer. Chapter 3 will come soon, it's actually almost finished. I wrote that before chapter 2.


	3. Breakout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this came later than expected. I hit busier than planned this week, between homework, and all my music activities.

"Hey man!" Sam shouted as Steve appeared at the bars on his holding cell. "What are you doing here?" 

"Breaking you out of course." the man behind the bars grinned. His rescuer smiled back and tapped a screen panel by the door. It swung open and the companions embraced. "I'm sorry this happened." Steve said.

"No way. We did what we had to. What was right." Sam insisted. 

"Hey! Steve!" A new voice shouted. The man who was called spun around and saw his fellow ex-Avenger standing by the bars of his own locked cell.

"Clint!" Steve ran over and quickly unlocked the archer's cell and they embraced. They broke apart and Steve proceeded to unlock the new recruit's cell and wake him up from his nap on the uncomfortable-looking cot. "Man this guy sleeps a lot." 

"Wow. Thank you Captain America." The recruit said as they shook hands, still in shock that he was in the presence of the great legend. 

"Hey Steve. A little help over here?" Clint called from across the room.

Steve turned around and saw that he had unlocked Wanda's cell and was kneeling by the young girl. She was wrapped in a straight jacket and had a shock collar around her neck. She wasn't moving and didn't seem to be responding to any stimuli. He rushed over and tried to lift her up but before Clint could stop him the movement triggered the electroshock collar and the girl shook and let out a small whimper as the jolt of electricity ran through her. Steve set her back down on the ground as carefully as possible, but not without triggering another jolt of electricity from the collar. "I'm sorry Wanda." He whispered as he cautiously slipped his fingers in the small space between the collar and her neck, having to avoid the metal spikes sticking out from it and digging into her neck. Another jolt of electricity ran through her and he winced as he felt the shock through his hands. He tightened his grip and with one more jolt he ripped the device of her neck and into two pieces on the cell floor.

Clint gathered her tiny body up in his arms and Steve led the group out of the holding room and through the security room full of unconscious guards. "You did all this?" Scott looked impressed. 

"Yeah."

"Wow." No one else was surprised by his actions; they were all used to him doing that sort of stuff.

They made it outside and boarded the jet that was waiting and Steve ordered whoever was piloting to take off. They looked up and saw Sharon Carter in the seat. "Thank you for doing this," Steve told her. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem. As long as they don't catch me I'm still in the clear."

Clint tried to sit Wanda down in a chair on the jet, but when he realized that she was too weak to sit up on her own he moved her to the stretcher to the side of the jet. "Steve," he quietly and called his friend over. He turned from speaking to the pilot and knelt by the stretcher. The young Sokovian woman was barely breathing and her skin was pale and her face had grown thin from apparent starvation. He looked closer at her injuries and saw that she had red, raw burn marks around her neck from the electroshock collar. She was shaking, whether from cold or fear he could not tell, but either way he covered her frail body with a woolen blanket. "We need to get some fluids in her," Clint informed Steve. "She wasn't given anything the whole time we were there."

"The entire time? How is she still alive?"

"She's a fighter. Now get something in her!" 

Sharon put the jet on autopilot and helped them set up an IV line to rehydrate her. "Just out of curiosity, how old is she?" Sharon asked. 

"Nineteen."

"Only nineteen? She's been through all this hell in only nineteen years?"

"Really it's only been nine. The hell didn't start until their parents were killed in the bombing of their apartment. She told me she and her brother had perfectly normal, pleasant lives before that." Clint shared. 

"Oh how quickly things can change," Sharon said softly. 

"That's one of the truest things I've heard since this whole crap started," Clint grumbled. 

It was true. Since the announcement of the Accords, everything had seemed riddled with secrets and deceit. There was never going to be an end to the suffering of Earth's mightiest heroes. 

Steve began to realize what his resistance had done to his friends. He had no one left other than the team, but that didn't mean everyone else was in the same boat. 

Clint had a family. A wife and three kids. Steve had gotten the pleasure of meeting them for the first time a year ago, when Clint lent their farmhouse to the team as a safe house during the Ultron fiasco. Natasha knew about them of course, but she had been the only one. 

Natasha was never allowed to have much of a life, but Clint's kids loved her, and she still had them, as well as her work with the Avengers and the small rebuilt sector of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

Scott had a daughter. A little girl who absolutely adored him; Cassie, his little girl who he would probably never be able to see again. 

Sam didn't have much, but he had a job, and he had the Avengers. And that was something that he could no longer be a part of. 

Wanda was the only one who really had nothing left, but looking at her now, Steve realized that his actions had ruined even her life. She had lost her parents, her brother, her home, and her normalcy. She didn't had much else to lose, but Steve could see it would take a while for her to recover from this trauma he caused her. Now that he was staring at her, thinking about how he caused her so much pain, and he wondered if she would ever be the same girl she was before, and his guilt all but overwhelmed him. There was nothing he thought he could ever do for her to make this up to her, and he couldn't stand what he had done.


	4. Into Hiding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to post, school has been crazy and I've just been really short on time.

Natasha knew she needed to lay low for awhile, but she also knew there were some people she had to check up on first. She couldn't make sure everyone who had escaped was out and okay, even if she knew where they were it would be too risky. She knew from seeing the news reports on the breakout from the Raft that they were out of custody, but she had no idea if they were being tracked or followed or even in hiding yet. But there were some people she had to help before disappearing herself. 

She took the jet she had hijacked from the airport in Berlin and flew by memory to the farmhouse that had served as her refuge whenever she had needed it. Any time she needed a place to lay low or recover from a field injury, the Bartons welcomed her with open arms. Laura had always helped her see that not all of her is the Black Widow, and whenever she was down on the past the kids would always bring her back to happiness and the present. She knew the Bartons better than she knew herself most of the time. She had to make sure that they were away from the danger her actions regarding the Accords had caused. 

She landed the jet as quickly a possible and hurried to the door where she almost ran full speed into Laura. "Nat! Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're okay. I saw on the news that they were hunting you know too."

"Yeah, I'm okay." She looked around the room and saw that the family was packing up their belongings. "Good, you aren't staying. Stark knows where you guys are; I had to come make sure you weren't going to stick around."

"Wait, you aren't staying? You could come with us you know. Clint and I set up a back up house, in case something like this ever happened and we had to leave. We are going to be hidden, you could hide with us." 

Natasha shook her head. "I have some other things I need to take care of first, and I would put you at risk by staying. I can't let that happen. I've already caused enough trouble." She was still down on herself for all the stuff that she had agreed to and supported with the UN's attempt to control them.

Laura knew that she felt guilty. "If you're talking about the Accords, that wasn't your fault. You didn't start them." 

"Yeah, but I still helped. I supported them and fought against my best friends-my family- for them, and look where it got us now. Your whole family separated and on the run."

"Nat, stop blaming yourself. This was the United Nations acting out of fear of what you could do."

"And Tony acting out of guilt and fear of what he did." Natasha said accusingly.

"Stark did what he thought was right. I'm not saying it was, but he didn't know what the consequences of his actions would entail." Laura insisted. She wasn't going to let Natasha beat herself up pointing fingers and throwing blame.

"Well he wasn't right," Natasha argued back like a stubborn little kid, a tactic she had learned from Lila and Cooper since she wasn't allowed to herself as a child. "And I helped him."

"Whatever you did is in the past. You'll get over it, and you'll make up for it. You always have, and you always will." Laura had helped her get over all the other terrible things Natasha did that she got hung up on, but she felt like this one was different. She had betrayed her friends- her family. Laura knew this was going to resonate with the former assassin much longer. 

Natasha nodded, but Laura knew he was only agreeing to end the unpleasant conversation. 

"Auntie Nat!" Lila came running out from the back room and jumped into Natasha's arms. "I missed you!" She launched into a big, excited rant about the battle at the airport t that in Germany. "You fought the little guy and then he got really big! And I'm really happy that Auntie Wanda stopped you and Daddy from fighting, it made me really sad to see you guys mad at each other. Are you still going to be friends?" 

Something inside Natasha broke in half when she heard that Lila had seen the fight. She shouldn't have had to watch that. Watch her dad and his friends beating each other up in a way that should never happen. Kids shouldn't see their families in such a dark light. The fact that the kids had seen her idiotic mistakes made her feel even worse, though she took care not to let it show. "Yes, Lila. Your Daddy and I will always be friends, no matter what happens." 

The little girl nodded in agreement, and pulled the older woman along by the hand to the backyard where Cooper was playing with little Nathaniel in the sandbox Clint had made them. 

"Hi, Aunt Nat!" Cooper shouted.

"Hey, Coop." She gave him a hug. She picked up Nathaniel and kissed his chubby cheek, shocked at how heavy he had gotten since she had last come around. That's when she realized how long it really was since she had been here. It had been shortly after the battle in Sokovia, when the baby was only two months old. She knew that by now he had to be at least one. Little Nathaniel Pietro was named for Pietro Maximoff, Wanda's twin brother, who gave his life to save Clint during the fight against Ultron. Natasha knew Wanda had trouble hearing the child's full name, even when it was to honor her brother and Clint asked her permission before using the name, because it was such an awful reminder of her loss. 

"Are you going to stay this time?" Lila tugged at her hand. "You could see the new house we're moving to!" The adorable puppy eyes the little girl gave Natasha made her heart melt in guilt. It was almost harder to come around for such a short time than to not come at all.

"No, I'm sorry. I have some things I need to do. But I promise to come visit you at your new home, okay?" 

Lila and Cooper both seemed a little upset that she wouldn't stay, but were satisfied with her promise to come back soon. She kissed Nathaniel one more time before putting him back in the sand. Cooper hugged her tightly, and she whispered in his ear, "I'm gonna get your Dad back to you, okay?" He pulled away and looked into to her eyes as if to see if she was telling the truth. 

As if he would be able to tell with me. Thought Natasha, but she held his gaze.

He decided she was telling the truth and nodded his appreciation. "Make sure you get you back to us too."

She smiled and thought, There's no guarantee to that, Coop, but she didn't tell him that. He didn't need to be worrying about her.

She hugged Lila and she was sure that the girl would wear herself out just from squeezing so tight. "Do you have to go so soon?" 

Why did she have to ask? It makes leaving so much harder. Natasha would do anything to stay. Here, she was safe and loved. As opposed to out in the world where she was a wanted fugitive, hated and feared, on the run and in hiding. If only the rest of the world were like this little farm. Although if hat were the case, she would have just been a regular little girl in Russia, who would grow up to be a regular Russian woman. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.

She pulled away from Lila and looked her right square in the eye. "I do, I'm sorry sweetie." 

The only time the assassin used language like that was to her niece. She kissed the little girl on the forehead and turned to go back into the house. She hugged Laura goodbye. 

"When you're done cleaning everything up come stay with us," she insisted. "The new house is at-"

"No," Natasha cut in. "Don't tell me where it is. I don't want to know. If I get caught and they try for information..." Natasha put the thought out of her head. "I can't know just in case I snap and give in." 

"You really think they would do that?" Laura asked in disbelief.

"I saw the footage from the Raft, and after seeing what they did o Wanda, I wouldn't be surprised."

"What did they do to her?" Laura asked, her voice filled with concern. She had grown close to the girl after Clint brought her to stay with them and settle in after Sokovia and her brother's death. It had never occurred to her that the government could be so heartless.

"Stuff I don't want to talk about." 

Laura nodded and realized she really didn't want to know, either. But she did want Natasha to know where they would be, even with the looming threat of her giving them up. "I know you're afraid of us getting hurt, but I trust you. I know you by now, and I know that no matter what they do to you you wouldn't say a word. You're too strong for that." Natasha smiled in appreciation. "It's in Odessa, Texas. North Lee Avenue. Please come, at least for a little bit as soon as you can."

"I'll do my best."

Natasha was pulled in for one last hug, and Laura's eyes teared up as she said, "Please take care of yourself, Nat. Don't do anything stupid or too dangerous."

"Everything I do is dangerous. I'll try to make it by once I make sure the others are... okay." She walked out the front door and took one last look at the house that had served as her safest refuge. Better than any actual S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house or base. A place she would likely never see again.

It was only a place, she reminded herself. It's the people inside that matter. As long as those people stay safe.


	5. Catatonia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to the escapee team cap here guys.

"Any improvement?" Steve asked anxiously as he paced around the jet. Clint was sitting by the rigid form of their young Sokovian teammate and had been stroking her long dark hair for the past hour and a half, hoping for some little response. There was nothing. She was an empty husk of the lively girl she was long ago. Nothing they did seemed to break the weird conscious daze she was stuck in. Clint just shook his head in an answer because there was clearly nothing new going on with the girl physically. Who knew what was going on in her head. 

For three days the escaped fugitives had been flying aimlessly. They landed once to drop Sharon off back at her work and once more to refuel the aircraft, but other than that stealth mode had been kept on and the clouds had served as curtains to hide the jet. Scott had been worried sick about what might happen to his daughter, Cassie, and Clint could only hope that his wife and kids had left the house to escape to their backup. 

While he was here, however, his main focus was on Wanda. She was having a hard time regulating her body temperature, and one minute she would be ice cold and shivering and then suddenly be burning up and sweating. Her breathing was shallow and seemed labored, and the emptiness in her eyes frightened the team. No stimuli they put toward her earned a reaction, and Steve began to become worried that the treatment given in the prison would have lasting effects on her mental health. The last thing they needed was for the most powerful being on the planet to have a mental breakdown and cause who knows how much damage. Reeve was practically ripping his hair out over what he had down to the poor girl who had already lost so much. 

"What is wrong with her? Can we figure out that much?" He asked. 

Clint had been whispering inaudible words into Wanda's ear, but he stopped and looked up to Steve now. "She's gone catatonic," he informed the group. "This happened to Nat after a particularly bad run in with the Red Room during one of our missions when we were S.H.I.E.L.D."

"What did they do?" Sam asked. "I mean, clearly they fixed it, 'cause the girl is out there kicking butt."

"Well that's the problem. We had her in a special S.H.I.E.L.D. treatment facility. They had her on sedatives and electroshock therapy, neither of which we have available in our current situation." Clint explained with a heavy heart. "Without that, all we can do is wait around and hope that it will pass with time."

"Wait, electroshock therapy? Isn't that--" Scott started to say, but stopped when Clint cut him off.

"Yes. They send electric pulses to the brain and force their bodies into a seizure. It looks and is exactly as horrible as it is, but it works."

Steve growled his anger in words the rest of the team could barely make out to be, "I'm going to kill those men for what they did to her." They all felt the same way. 

Wanda was sitting up on the bed Clint had brought her in on, but she was hunched over and not quite supporting herself without the help Clint was providing. Her eyes remained wide but unblinking, dark circles shadowing them. She needed the help that they couldn't give them, and she needed it now. But they all knew that id they went for that help they would just get her right back into the government's custody; right back to the people who caused their predicament in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you were asking if this is an anti- of either side. It's not. It is mainly about the people on the run, but there will be some tony chapters coming up.


	6. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony refuses to give up the location of the fugitives until a tempting offer changes his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I promised a Tony chapter and here it is. Just saying right now that this is not anti-Tony, I rally like him. In this story(and in canon) he gets confused about who he is fighting for and what he wants to achieve.

FUGITIVES OF ACCORDS ESCAPE CUSTODY

The heading screamed out to Tony in a sort of relief message. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, maybe not even to himself, but he felt horrible after seeing all of Cap's friends locked up in the Raft. The Maximoff girl still freaked him out of his mind, and the new guy had a nasty attitude. He didn't care for what happened to them. The girl was a maniac and the man was already a criminal; they deserved to be locked up. But he had known Sam for awhile, and he was no criminal. Clint was even worse. He had a family, he was just a normal guy who did really amazing things but was punished for it. He stood up for what he thought was right. 

Tony knew without a doubt that Natasha was the one to help Steve get them out. Only those part of the mission to capture the fugitives in the first place had known where they were being kept. 

The UN and all their buddies had been trying to coerce him into giving up the location of the Black Widow for days now, but even if he knew he wouldn't tell. He felt that he had sold out his friends enough in the past few week and he was done with that at this point. The government had not turned out to be what he thought. Again.

"I am going to ask you on more time and one more time only," a voice behind him roared. 

Tony just kept walking, but answered, "Secretary Ross, how are you? I've been having a lot of fun repeatedly putting you on hold for the past week or so."

"Stark, you better listen to me or you might find yourself in a cell just like them," Ross threatened. 

"Oh I'm really scared now. What do you want?"

"You know what I want," Ross said. 

"Yeah, I do. And the answer is still no. I don't even know where they are." Tony insisted for what seemed like the millionth time. 

"Not even one?" Ross urged. 

"Not even one."

"And you have no way to contact any of them?"

"Nope."

"They deserve to be shut up, Stark."

Tony shook his head. "Cap was really just being a butt. He refused to agree because he didn't trust you and the other government officials. Wilson just went along with him because that is what he does. Clint wanted what he felt was best for his family," Tony tried to justify his friends' actions. 

Ross raised his eyebrows. "And Lang and Maximoff?"

Tony smirked. "To be honest I dot even know what was up with the shrinky-growy guy. But he was already a criminal, makes sense that he would choose to go against the law. Second nature." There was nothing Tony could think of to reason with what Lang had chosen, but he didn't know the man very well. Or at all, really. And then there was Maximoff. He hated her. She could rot in a cell like that for all he cared. "Maximoff is a freak. I don't care what happens to her, she deserved what she got in the Raft."

"So would you help us catch her if you could?" Ross pushed. 

"If the others were let go, then yes." Tony agreed.

"She is all we want. Top priority is keeping people safe, and she is a threat to international security."

"Good. Then I may have been lying just a little bit about not having a way to contact the group." 

"Stark!" Growled Ross. 

Tony pulled an ancient looking piece of tech out of his pocket. 

"A flip phone?" Ross asked. "Don't tell me that is what our old captain uses."

"It's a burner phone. If we set them up for a trap to get the others separated from Maximoff, then we can grab her and make a break for it."

"Well then we had been get working on that plan then shouldn't we? We have a little witch to catch and burn."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also---  
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBERT DOWNEY JR.!!!   
> I feel like this is a pretty appropriate chapter since today is RDJ's bday and this chapter is about Tony.


	7. Messages in Codes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fugitives receive a coded message from a fellow fugitive ally and make plans to join up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really really sorry it took me so long to update this. I couldn't think of anything for a long time, and when I finally did it was slow in writing.

The quinjet that the escapees had taken over was still in stealth mode, but the group was running dangerously low on fuel.

For the first week after their escape they had no idea what was going on in the world above them; they had turned off all electronics using radio waves, for fear of the waves being tracked and leading them to capture again. After they realized that they needing to know how everything was turning out with the accords, Scott had done his best to cover their use of the waves. It seemed to work out for them for the time being, and they found out a lot about their predicament from the news. Some good news, such as that Clint's family had left their home and were living at an unknown location. As of their personal issues, there was only bad news. Back down on the ground the manhunt for them had gotten worse. The troops searching for them had orders to shoot on site, and someone started an air search as well. They had to find a place to land.

This was easier said than done. It was hard not knowing whether places were safe to land or not.

Things on the jet were as good as they could be given the current circumstances. One of the guys would pilot, while two others would search satellite images for safe places to land. The last guy, usually Clint or Steve, would sit with Wanda, who was still catatonic.

Their situation was getting dire. The jet's fuel would run out any day at this point, their food supply was depleting rapidly, and if they didn't get Wanda medical treatment soon she was going to be in serious trouble. Her vitals were consistently dropping, and nothing they had on the ship seemed to help with what she needed. No one aboard was a doctor either, so they couldn't figure out in what ways they could help.

There were too many problems and no solutions at all.

At this moment Steve was sitting next to Wanda on the bed, Scott was searching for a place to land, and Clint and Sam were catching up on long lost sleep.

Everyone jumped—except Wanda, who was still despondent—when the radio on the jet crackled to life. They held their breath, hoping it was just a mistake and they hadn't been found.

A series of clicks came over the speaker, and the men sat there confused for a moment, until Clint jumped up and quickly rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"It's Morse code! Someone quick get me a pen and a piece of paper!" He said, and Scott handed over a notebook and a stray writing utensil.

Clint began jotting down letters and words began to form on the paper.

_What would you like me to be?_

Scott, Sam, and Clint all looked at each other in confusion. Why had someone hacked their radio to ask a question like that? And who was it? But Steve knew exactly who and what it was.

It was a signal. Very encrypted, very generic, but one that only he would know.

He jumped up from Wanda's bed and ran to the radio, quickly tapping out another message, which Clint also copied down.

_How about a friend?_

"What are you saying?" Sam asked. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"Just wait," Steve shushed him.

The replied came back, and Clint wrote it down and read it aloud.

_Looks like you might be in the wrong business._

A huge grin spread across Steve's fade.

"Who is it? How did they find us?" Scott asked fearfully.

"It's Nat."

The tapping continued through the speaker and Clint kept on copying down the messages.

_Meet in Star City on Tuesday. West 7th street. Budapest style. Your version._

"So, Budapest," Steve said. "I've heard you and Nat joke about that a lot, so I'm going to assume that part of the message was for you?"

Clint's face flushed with embarrassment. "Yeah, a lot happened on that mission."

"Like what?" Scott asked with interest in the big secret.

" _Stuff_ ," Clint answered, insistent on keeping quiet. "But I know what she means."

"Well what is it?" Sam asked. "And what's with all the secret coding?"

"You clearly have never been on the run, bird-man," Scott said.

"He's right," Steve says. "If someone intercepts this message we are done for. It has to be coded to something only the person who should be hearing it would understand."

"And since you answered immediately to Natasha's first message I'm assuming that was for you?" Clint asked, and his questioned was answered with a nod from Steve.

"Care to elaborate, or that as confidential as 'Budapest'?" Sam asked.

"Just a little thing that happened when we were working together during the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Steve commented vaguely, blushing. "It doesn't really matter. But we should get going to Star City. What did Nat mean by 'Budapest style'? And 'your version'?"

Clint laughed. "We remember that mission in different ways. I remember the dumpster."

Sam and Scott both started cracking up. "A _dumpster_?"

"I told you, a lot happened on that mission."

"Alright, well we should get there," Steve said with a small smile. "Let's hope she can get up more supplies and maybe something to help Wanda."

They were brought back to the reality of their situation when they all looked back at the young girl who lay on the hard bed, unmoving with her eyes frozen staring but not seeing.

"Yeah, let's hope."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I know Star City is Arrowverse, but I'm a little obsessed with that right now so I had to include it. But there will be no Team Arrow when the Avengers visit;))


	8. Plans Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Ross start to set their plan in motion.

"So you have had this burner phone as a way to contact the fugitives this whole time and you refused to inform me of this?" Ross asked for what Tony was sure was the thirtieth time since starting their plan. 

"Yes," Tony answered the exact same way as before. "I needed to make sure you weren't going to lock back up my friends."

"And the Maximoff girl isn't one of them? She was still on your team."

"She's a freak. She is the one who put the image into my mind to make Ultron, Sokovia was her fault by extension."

Ross shook his head. "You really do like to pin the blame on other people," he observed.

"Really? Because I could still pick up that burner phone and leave. I have no obligations to help you."

It took Ross less than a few seconds to quickly take back what he had said. "No, this is our only lead on the fugitives." 

"To Maximoff," Tony corrected. 

"Right, right," said Ross. 

"So all I have to do is call the phone, and ask them to meet?" Tony clarified. "Are you sure it will work?"

"If he gave you the number, he was just looking for you to come back. It'll work. Just use some of that Stark charm!"

"Okay, if you say so. But if it doesn't work I have permission to say 'I told you so.'"

"And if it does work I get to say the same thing," Ross agreed. 

Tony nodded his head and dialed the number in the burner phone and waited for the other side to pick up. 

"Hello? Steve?" Tony looked up at Ross, who raised his eyebrows knowingly. "Yeah, I decided to call. I want to meet up and try to fix things. And bring the team, too. I don't like the way everything ended."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, I'm going to say the same thing I put in my QuickWest prompt work: SCHOOL IS ALMOST OVER!!! So I'll have a lot more time pretty soon to write and update, so just bear with me for about three more weeks. :)


	9. Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fugitives meet up with Natasha and plan their next moves.

"So are we sure that this is the place?" Sam asked uncertainly. "It doesn't look like she's here."

Sam, Clint, and Scott were standing by the rendezvous point in Star City where they were supposed to meet with Natasha. Steve was standing behind them, carrying Wanda's still catatonic form in his arms. She was showing signs of coming back to reality—occasionally looking into someone's eyes and not right through them, actually moving on her own once in a while, sporadically making the tiniest whimper—but she was nowhere near a full recovery. 

"No, this is definitely the spot," Clint confirmed. 

"Yeah, this is probably it," a familiar female voice spoke above them all. 

Natasha jumped down from the landing of the second story right above their garbage dumpster rendezvous point. 

"Nat!" Clint was the first to rush forward, and practically picked her up with the enormous hug he gave, she enthusiastically returned the action. "I'm so glad you're okay. I wasn't worried when I heard that they were adding you to their manhunt list, I know you can take care of yourself. But it was still nerve racking not knowing if you were okay."

"Same to you, Clint. I met up with Laura and the kids, too. They are okay. They got to the back up."

"Thank you, Tasha. Thank you so much." Clint's anxiety for his family visibly melted away, and the team could tell that he had been frantic for the past few weeks. 

"Hey, Nat," Steve said with a weary smile. She walked over to him and gave him the tightest hug that she could manage, considering he was still carrying Wanda. Without breaking the hug, Sam came over and took Wanda from Steve. 

"I am so sorry," Natasha blurted suddenly, pulling away from Steve. He held her by her arms, so she couldn't move away too far. "I never should have signed, I knew it would put us on opposite sides and I did it anyway. You were right, the UN was never going to let us go, they only wanted total control. I was too blinded by my obsession with doing what people saw was right so I could cover up my past and I couldn't tell the right side from the popular side. Steve, I'm so—"

"Natasha!" he cut her off. The redhead looked up at him confused, as if she were lost in her own world of guilt, forgetting that she had an audience for her ramble. "You don't have to apologize for anything. You aren't to blame for anything that happened."

He pulled her in for another hug, and after a moment they broke apart again and Natasha turned toward Wanda. 

"How is she?"

"Bad," Clint said, stating the obvious. "She hasn't spoken at all, has barely moved on her own, and the only way we can get nutrients into her is through an IV."

"She needs medical treatment," Natasha said. 

"And where are we going to get that without getting arrested?" Scott asked, speaking up for the first time since the beginning of the meeting. 

"Hey new guy," Natasha said before answering. "I know a guy who could help. It's going to be dangerous, and he probably won't want to help us, but it's our only chance."

"Well great, that's all we need," Steve said. "Who is it?"

"Banner."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the slow updates. It'll be a lot better from here to the end of the summer.


	10. Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce agrees too help them, and he has an interesting talk with one of the fugitives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sporadic updates. Here's a somewhat long chapter to make up for it?

The group followed Natasha through the alleys in an old section of India. Wanda being passed around the men, and they would occasionally speak, only to be quieted by the spy. They eventually reached a small cellar entrance, which Natasha picked the lock to and opened, ushering the others inside. 

"Oh, crap," a familiar voice sounded from across the dimly lit room. "I thought I locked that."

"You did," Natasha answered. "Didn't really seem to stop us."

Bruce jumped up from a desk in the corner with the only light in the cellar. 

"Oh, my gosh! Tasha, you scared me!" He looked around the group. "Man, you brought the whole gang."

"I'm sorry, we wouldn't have bothered you, but we need your help," Steve apologized. 

"No problem! I've been wondering about you guys. I'm real sorry for ditching you after Ultron and Sokovia, I just didn't feel that I would be able to go into the public eye for a while. I guess you are all in that same boat right now." He gave a small, nervous chuckle. "What can I help you with?"

Sam stepped forward carrying Wanda's still form. Bruce's eyes narrowed at the girl who he only saw as a threat and a danger. She caused his big blow out in Africa right before Sokovia. 

"Look, I know that you don't have the greatest history with her, but she needs help," Clint explained. "She doesn't respond to us, doesn't eat, doesn't sleep, doesn't move, just lays there with this terrifying dead look."

"She's catatonic," Bruce stated, although the they all already knew that. 

"Can you help her?" Scott asked. It was not as much a question of 'can', more like 'will' he help. 

Bruce shook his head. "If it was anyone else asking, I'd say no. But it's you guys. So I'll see what I can do."

"That you so much Bruce," Steve gushed. 

"Yeah, bring her over." Bruce cleared a space on a table and gestured for them to lay her down on it. After connecting her to a few IV lines to replenish as much strength as they could and hooking electrodes to her head to monitor her brain waves, he brought over a machine that looked like it belonged in an old asylum movie. 

"Is that the—" Scott began. 

"Yup," Natasha cut in. "It sucks, but she'll barely remember it once everything is done. And it isn't painful, just terrible to watch."

"Usually they administer anesthesia with this, but she's already practically unconscious, so it won't make much of a difference." Bruce placed a clump of gauze between her teeth and prepared the machine, but paused before starting. "Are you sure you want to do this? There are a lot of risks that can come with doing this."

"We don't have many other options."

Bruce started the procedure, and while Natasha and Steve gritted their teeth and held down the girl they had become family with as she seized with the electric current running through her body, Sam and Clint had to turned away. 

Scott just looked horrified at first, then audibly whispered, "This is like being in one of the most bizarre, random, and terrifying horror-action-crime-superhero movies ever."

When everything was finished, Bruce pushed a needle into Wanda's arm, settling her heaving body. 

"What was that?" Scott asked. 

"A sedative," Bruce answered. "She's going to need the rest. You guys should rest too. I have a small place upstairs witha guest room that you guys can use. Sorry there's only one for all of you."

"We don't mind, thank you."

"Actually, I'm going to stay down here with Wanda for a little bit," Steve objected.

"I'll keep you company," Natasha offered, earning a grateful smile from Steve.

Bruce nodded and showed the other three upstairs, but came back down to the basement a few minutes later.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked Natasha. She nodded and left the chair next to Wanda and rounded the corner to a more private location.

"What's up?" Natasha asked, knowing what he wanted to talk about and dreading the conversation soon to follow.

"I wanted to apologize for what went on after Sokovia--" he started.

"I think you already have," Natasha laughed, easily hiding her uneasiness.

"Yeah, but I didn't really apologize to you."

"You don't have to do anything special."

"I know, but I want to talk to you about us."

This is the point where Natasha's stomach dropped in uneasiness and she laughed nervously. "Okay?"

"I'm really sorry for letting you think that anything could really happen with us. I've had a lot of time to think while I've been in hiding, and we really just aren't right for each other."

She felt bad, but this was almost what she was hoping to hear. She didn't want to be the one to bring it up, but being who she was didn't allow much space for love or relationships. Especially in the situation she was in now, wanted and on the run. It wasn't a new feeling, but she had to push aside a lot of things that seemed normal and important before. 

"I'm sorry," she apologized, though neither of them quite knew why. "I'm not really fit for that sort of life. I can't afford to get distracted. That's not what I was made for."

Bruce flinched internally at her words. He knew that she didn't see what everyone else did when they looked at her. He also knew that she didn't see what anyone else could clearly see when they saw the two leaders of the new Avengers team. "That's not true. You'll find who are eventually. There's someone out there who fits you. You may have already met him."

"What do you mean?"

Bruce pulled Natasha around the corner of the room to see Steve, who was sleeping peacefully in the chair by Wanda's slumbering form. "I've seen the way you look at him."

"I-- no, I--" Natasha, for one of the first times, was at a loss for words. "We're just friends-- teammates. Nothing more than that."

Bruce raised his eyebrows. "Just friends who climb in bed with each other when they have nightmares? Just friends who are constantly sharing glances at each other, and spend all their spare time together?"

"Bruce, I don't know what--"

"You may not be able to see it yourself, but it's obvious to everyone else." He gave her a pointed look that shut her up, and before he walked away he leaned over and said quietly, "And by the way, he looks at you the same way."

He walked upstairs to his room, leaving Natasha astonished, left to ponder everything he had said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, romanogers shippers!! Let the voyage begin. (Don't worry if you aren't a romanogers junkie like me, it won't be a main focus.)


	11. Deserve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint and Natasha have a little chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of people have been requesting that I include romanogers as a main focus, so I'll probably do that. Hope you like it! Here's a short little chapter, happy July 4th to all you Americans!! (And happy birthday, Cap!)

In the days and weeks that followed, Bruce continued to treat Wanda, and after a month, she was beginning to get up and get back to normal. 

Not perfect, but better. 

She still refused to use her powers, though they all knew they were still there. They could see it, the deep red brimming just below the surface, threatening to spill over, but she wouldn't let it out. She didn't talk much, but every once in a while Clint and Sam's jokes would crack a small smile out of the corners of her mouth. 

Natasha had been keeping to herself as well, trying her best to steer clear of Steve, because Bruce's speech about the two of them opened up something in her mind, something she didn't want to deal with. Not in their situation. Maybe if things ever calmed down, went back to normal, it would be an option. But she was in no place to be in a relationship at the moment. 

So she avoided all contact with him as much as possible. 

One night she and Clint were laying on their backs on the flat roof of Bruce's place, watching the stars above. 

"What are you running from?" Clint asked out of the blue. 

"Umm, the governments of literally every country in the world?" She answered, very confused at the meaning and point of the question. She was running from the same people as him, and she knew that he knew that. 

"No, I know that," he said, confusing Natasha even more. "Why are you pushing Steve away?"

That. Natasha had been hoping that no one would have noticed, but that clearly wasn't the case. 

"I don't know what you mean," she said casually, trying to play it off naturally. 

"One would think that by now you would know I can see right through your lies," Clint complained jokingly. "But really, all joking aside, you've been avoiding him. What's up?"

"I—well, some things came up, and I'd rather not have to face them," she explained cryptically. 

"Meaning you realized that you love him and you don't think he deserves you?"

Natasha looked over at him. "How did—?"

"I know you, Nat. And it really doesn't take a genius to figure it out. You would be good for each other, give it a shot."

"I'm gjust not sure if this is something that I'm ready to go through with. I'm not in the best place for any of that."

"You never will be," Clint objected. "And then you'll never get to your time and you'll miss out entirely. You need to go for it, Nat. You deserve it. You both do."

"Are you sure?" She was the master of all masters in many areas, and doubting herself was one of those high qualities. 

"Absolutely positive."

Clint rolled over and topped on top of Nat with a crushing hug, which she returned with a laugh. 

"Thanks, Clint." 

"So are you going to talk to him?"

"Maybe. I need to think on what I really feel and if this is what I want."

"Well don't wait too long, Nat. I want you to get your chance at a happy ending."

"Thanks."

The two agents lay back down side by side, each thinking about their conversation, and wondering how everything would finally turn out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuff is going to pick up after this, hopefully, as long as everything goes according to plan.


	12. Bets and Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group decides to move on from Bruce's place, and Steve and Nat have an interesting conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this yesterday on the 4th, but I fell asleep before I could finish writing it!

By the fifth week of their stay, they decided it was best to keep moving on their way. Wanda was doing better, and they were restocked on as many supplies as they could store in the jet. 

Natasha still hadn't talked to Steve, but she knew that she couldn't avoid him forever. On the last day, as Sam, Scott, and Clint packed up their belongings and loaded the jet, she approached him. 

"Hey, soldier. Happy birthday!" She said with a smile. 

"You remembered!" He seemed surprised, which in turn surprised her. 

"Of course I did! It isn't that difficult. Who could forget that Captain America was born on the 4th of July?"

"You'd be surprised," Steve laughed. 

A very pregnant pause filled the air, making Steve squirm. 

"Have you heard from Tony at all?" He asked, clearly just trying to make conversation. 

"No, not since right before they released me to the wanted list. Why, have you?"

"Yeah, he asked me and the team to meet with him. I haven't told anyone else yet, I told him that I would get back to him once we were in a better place."

"Are you in that place yet?"

Steve paused to think. "I guess so, I'm just not sure I'm ready to see him myself."

"Take your time, Steve. You'll know when you're ready."

There was a long, and incredibly awkward silence between them, and neither knew what to say. 

He tried to bring up their communication issue casually, but there really was no easy way to do so. "You've been avoiding me, Tasha. Why?"

"I'm dealing with some— some personal stuff. A whole bunch of crap, really."

"About what?" Cap asked. "I don't mean to pry, but you know I like to know what's bugging you. I can usually help, and you don't keep much from me any more. I hope this isn't anything about the Accords."

"No, no, no, of course not." Now she felt bad. She quickly thought up a believable story. "I've just been trying not to get too deep in because I know our time is almost up."

"You aren't coming with us?"

"I don't think it's a good idea. I need to stay away from you guys, a bigger group makes an easier target. We can't risk that with who we're facing now. It can be a little more difficult to stay out of trouble for beating up law enforcement than robots," she added with a slight chuckle. 

"We need you here, Nat. There is no reason why you should have to be alone."

"I'm sorry, I don't think I should. I'd be a liability to the team at this point. I think they're going to be after me almost more than you guys, because I signed the Accords but didn't stick by them. You don't need that." Natasha paused for just a moment. "Tell Wanda once she's feeling better that what the world sees is the lie fear creates, not the truth inside. And when you see Tony again, tell him that I'm sorry for leaving, but my mind and heart were in different places and I had to go somewhere the Accords wouldn't permit me to go. I don't know how long I'll be out of contact, but—"

Natasha's eyes suddenly widened as Steve leaned forward and pressed his lips hard against hers, cutting off her rant. 

"I'm sorry, I've been wanting to do that for a while," he explained, embarrassed, until she leaned forward and initiated another kiss. 

"I've been wanting that for a while too."

A shrill whistle from behind suddenly let them know they had an audience, and they pulled away awkwardly. 

"Finally!" Clint exclaimed. "I've been waiting for the two of you to get your heads out of your asses for forever now."

He and Sam slapped high five, and Natasha and Steve stared at them like they all were from Mars. 

"Pay up," Clint laughed, holding his hand out expectantly. 

"I don't have money right now!" Sam said. "They don't let prisoners keep their cash, and I'm pretty sure that if I tried to access my bank account the Feds would arrest us all on the spot."

"You had a bet on us?" Natasha asked indignantly. 

"If you made the first move I won, and if it was Steve, Sam won," Clint explained. "It was only 50 dollars! Tony and Rhodey had one for 500!"

"What?!?!" 

"Okay, forget the bets for a minute. You guys kissed and you are now officially in a relationship—"

"What that actually agreed?" Steve cut in, but Sam paid no attention. 

"—so now we are all happy and we can all go. It is really hot here."

"Natasha isn't coming, Sam."

Natasha shook her head. "I think you changed my mind. I'll stay with you guys."

The grin that nearly split Steve's face in two made Natasha give up a similar smile. 

"So we'd better get going then. The jet is all settled."

After saying goodbye to Bruce and thanking him for his hospitality, the group reboarded the jet and set off, out to roam waiting for their safety back on the solid ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally did it, guys!!!


	13. Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cap finally talks to the group about meeting up with Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since the last update. Writer's block had been beating me down like crazy. I don't know when the next update will be, I'm counseling at a camp in the mountains for the next week and then visiting relatives down South for the week after and I just don't know how much free time I'll have.

The crew aboard the jet remained silent for most of the day. Around meal times they made small talk, "what do you want to eat?" "I'm getting tired of this food," "how much fuel and supplies to we have left?" Nothing more than a few quiet words. 

They were getting restless. There was only so much you could do in the limited space of their aircraft. There was a pack of cards Clint found stuffed in his old locker aboard, and they played gin and poker and whatever else they could with junk found around the plane. 

But that only worked as a distraction for so long. 

Natasha pulled Steve aside one day, where no one could hear them. It wasn't hard for the two to get time separated from the others; the rest of the group always just assumed they were sneaking off to do a little "couple's activities". 

"When are you going to tell them?" Natasha asked him. 

"Tell them what?"

"That Tony contacted you. I know that you said you wanted to wait until you were ready and I encouraged hat, but we are really running out of time."

Steve nodded, thinking about his options. "I guess you're right."

"So you are going to have to tell the team and then contact Tony again. We can't keep going around like this, if Tony is willing to help, then we have to take his offer."

"The team is going to be mad that I kept this from them."

"Yeah, they will. But it would be even worse if they found out on their own without you telling them. It's better to do it before that happens."

That night, Steve gathered the team. 

"Tony contacted me a few weeks—"

"A few weeks? And you haven't told us? We could have gotten ourselves out of this crap and--" Scott started angrily, until Natasha cut him off.

"Shut up, Lang. He had his reasons, at least let him finish before you get all pissed off."

"Thanks, Nat," Steve said before continuing. "He wants to meet with us and try to fix things. I waited to tell you because I wanted to get Wanda back up on her feet as much as we could, and I wasn't quite ready to talk to him myself. We both said some things in Siberia, and I just wasn't ready to face him after that."

"It's okay, Cap," Clint said, and Sam nodded, both of them sending pointed looks at Scott. 

"I think that it's time we talked to him and got back our place in the world. What would you guys think of that?"

The men on board cheered and laughed, and Natasha's opinion was already accounted for, but Wanda stayed silent. 

"Wanda? Are you okay with that?"

The younger girl stayed quiet for a long time, eventually giving a small nod. She still hadn't said a word since they had taken the group into the raft, and though Steve was Steve she was still able, her spin even was beginning to worry him. 

Pushing his fear aside for another time, he pulled out the old flip phone that connected to Tony's and dialed the number. 

"Hey, Tony," he said wen the other end finally picked up. "I think we're ready to meet with you."


	14. Split

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony calls the group with a warning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yesterday, watching CA:CW (again), I tried to explain Romanogers to my mom, and I think I may have sparked an interest. I am so happy. \\_^.^_/
> 
> Let's play a fun game called guess how many times Author has seen CA:CW! Closest guess in the comments wins a virtual high five!

The fugitives aboard the quintet had been getting antsy for weeks, but the last few days before they were supposed to land to meet with Tony they had reached their breaking point. 

They seemed like little kids, having been in school for too long. Steve walked into a compartment to see Scott leaning against the wall upside down, standing on his head. Sam and Clint sat around playing cards, but there are only so many times you can play the same game without getting bored. Natasha sat around cleaning and re leaning unused pistols and swinging them around, pointing them at nothing but never getting to fire. Wanda still kept to herself, no matter how much the others tried to involve her with them, and she still only responded with a nod or shake of her head. 

The night before their planned meeting with Tony, the burner phone rang again, displaying an unknown number. Just as Sam was about to lock the call from getting through, Natasha snatched it out of his hand and answered it. 

"Tony! What do you want?"

Scott gawked at her. "How did you know it was him?"

She shushed him, so Clint answered for her. "She was trained from a young age to remember codes and long strings of numbers and letters. Matching a phone number to a person is a piece of cake for her."

She shushed them again, and continue listening to Tony speak. "Hold on," she stopped him. "Let me put you on speaker so everyone else can hear you."

They called the rest of the group over, and they sat listening to Tony explain the situation. 

"So I've been working on hacking into Secretary Ross' files—"

"You what?" Steve jumped, shocked from thinking that the Secretary of State and the Iron man had been working together. 

"Jeez, let me finish, Capsicle," Tony said with a slight laugh. "So I've bee trying to hack into Ross' files, but the only way I've been able to do that is from inside the government offices and the only way in there is by working with him. So I had to gain his trust. He knows about the phone, he knows that we've been talking. The meeting tomorrow has been compromised, he has it set up. Ross is planning on taking Maximoff and Barnes at all costs, and taking in any other of you he can get his hands on. Don't come, and split up. As a group you are too vulnerable."

"Where will we go?" Natasha asked. 

"Clint should find his family, join his wife and kids. Lang, your daughter and her mom and stepdad have been moved to a safe house by S.H.I.E.L.D. and you can join them too. Wakanda is always an option, or wherever you can blend in and stay away from the public eye. T'Challa and I are working on getting your names cleared, but it might take some time. Just hang in there until then."

"Thanks, Tony," Steve said, and after Tony had given them the coordinates for the safehouses, they said their farewells. 

Once the call was hung up, silence settled over the group, until Sam spoke up. 

"What next?" He asked, to anyone in particular. 

"We split up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry to say that unless I get another chapter done in the next few days (which probably won't happen because I really need to update my other fics) then this might be the last chapter for a little while. I'm starting high school next week, and I'm playing water polo and I'm in marching band, so I won't have as much free time as usual. I'll update as much as I can, but just so you know it might not happen very often. As soon as water polo season is over I'll be more free to write, because I don't play another sport until spring.


	15. Home

They had no choice, according to Tony. They had to split up, the Secretary of State was almost on their tail, and in the big group they were in at the moment, they were an easy target. 

They went the old S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house first, where Tony had relocated Cassie, Maggie, and Paxton. 

Getting through the secret entrance to what seemed to be an old abandoned warehouse from the outside, they found inside a once fully operational work area. 

"Cassie?" Scott called out, knowing his daughter would come running at the sound of his voice. 

"Daddy!" The sound of footsteps rang through the building, and a huge grin spread across his face, the biggest anyone had every seen on him. He opened his arms and scooped in the little brown haired girl who ran to him and hugged her for the longest time. 

"I saw you on T.V. Daddy!" Cassie said excitedly when they finally pulled away. "You were normal size, and then you got so small like you did when you fought that bad man in my bedroom, and then you got huge like the train and the ant! It was so cool! Now everyone knows that my daddy is superhero!"

"And a criminal, but what else is new?" Paxton commented with a friendly smirk.

"I'm so sorry, Pax, I didn't think that this would put any of you in danger, I just knew my friend needed help. I never imagined it would go this far."

Paxton surprised both Maggie and Scott with a handshake, smiling at Cassie's father rather than scolding him for his carelessness. "We're just glad you're okay." 

"Thank you for bringing me to my family," Scott said, turning back to the team. "Anytime you need me, you know where I'll be."

"Of course, Tic Tac, and you know you'll be on my contact list for next time," Sam said with a smile and a handshake.

Scott turned back to see Cassie, and found her gone from where she had been. He looked around frantically, sighing with relief when he saw her. She had crossed the space between her and the team and tugged on the edge of Wanda's dress. The young woman looked down to the child, and Cassie took that as permission to speak.

"I saw you on T.V. too," she said innocently. "I think you're super cool!"

With these small words, the entire team was shocked to see Wanda crack her first smile in months. 

Cassie ran back to her dad and held tight to his hand while he said his goodbyes to the group, knowing, or hoping at least, that their departure was temporary. 

After dropping Scott off at the safe house where his daughter and the rest of her family were, Clint took charge of navigation, heading toward his family's safe house. 

"Have you thought about where you're heading?" Steve asked Sam. "Wakanda is always open to any of us." 

"I think I'll try to get a place in a big city. New York, maybe Vegas or LA, somewhere I can easily blend in and not draw attention to myself."

"Sounds like a good plan. That's where I think I'll be heading."

"You aren't staying in Wakanda?"

"No. Maybe for a short time, but I don't know how long this process of getting us back in the world will be. I might as well start a new life if I have can."

"What about Wanda?" Sam asked Steve softly, not wanting the girl to know they were talking about her, though if she was reading their minds, whether consciously or not, she would know immediately. "I'd take her with me, but I don't think she is ready for a big city like New York."

"You're right, I think it would be overwhelming for anyone who wasn't used to that sort of environment. I'm going to take her to Wakanda. If they take her, I think it would be best for her to stay there while they get all this sorted out."

The jet finally touched down in the dark of the night, surrounded by woods. In a little clearing just visible through the fog, was a small cottage with warm, welcoming lights shining through the windows. 

They all got off the plane and Clint let them inside the home. 

"Oh my gosh, Clint!"

Laura Barton came running from a back room and jumped into her husband's arms. They stood together, wrapped in their love, for a long time. 

Clint was finally home.


	16. Leap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She doesn't just take a step, she leaps.

The group stayed with Clint and his family for almost two weeks. 

In that time, Lila spent a lot of time with Natasha and Wanda, taking them on walks through the woods and playing on the swing set Clint had built in the back. In the days that they spent there Wanda's smiles slowly grew more frequent, much to the delight of the team. Even though they knew she rarely slept, hardly ate, and still hadn't spoken to anyone. they knew it was the beginning of the road to recovery.

One night as she walked by the girl's room she over heard Lila ask Clint, "Daddy, why doesn't Auntie Wanda smile as much as she used to?"

She could practically feel the man's heart break at his daughter's innocence and the pain that the world would bring her. 

"Well, since last time you saw her, some very bad people have done mean things to her. I think she is still a little scared of the bad men," he tried to explain in the most careful language he could. 

He looked out the door and saw Wanda standing there listening, and he smiled back at her. He kissed his daughter's forehead and left the room, turning the light out and quietly closing the door behind him. 

She retreated to the couch, where he sat beside her for a while, saying nothing.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, putting his hands on her shoulders to keep her from turning away. 

She nodded her head, still refusing to talk. 

He pulled her into a hug, and somewhere in her mind she finally let go. 

"You were right," she whispered, her voice cracking and barely heard from its lack of use for so long. 

Clint pulled her closer, and let her bury her face in his shoulder, stroking her long, dark hair until her breathing evened out and she had fallen asleep. He carried her back to the bed in the spare room. 

She hadn't just taken a step in the right direction, she had taken a leap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, but between my busy schedule and crazy writer's block, it's the best I could crank out. I needed to get through a gap in the plot before I could continue in to the part I'm really excited about.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing fanfics for a while now, but this is the first one I've shared with anyone. Criticism and comments are greatly appreciated! 
> 
> Also, I don't have any set publication schedule, it'll be sorta sporadic.


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